Norman Christoph Schneider was born in Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener) on December 9, 1888, the third son of John Metz and Helena Ahrens. He was an engineer and worked from 1905-1910 at Tuerk Tool and Engine company, before joining J.M. Schneider Inc. as a stationary engineer. Over the course of his time with the company he served as company vice-president, president, chairman of the board and as a director, retiring in 1976. He was married to Ethel May Lapsley with whom he had three children: Herbert John, Howard George and Brita.

Beyond his work at Schneider's he served with the 118th Battalion, during the First World War, and served as a Member of Parliament for the riding of North Waterloo from 1952-1958. He won a by-election in 1952, was re-elected in 1953 and 1956, but was defeated in 1958 by Conservative O.W. Weichel. He participated actively in community affairs, serving with the Kitchener Young Men's Club, the Red Cross, the Kitchener Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Federated Charities, Salvation Army, Children's Aid, YWCA, University of Waterloo, St. Mary's Hospital, Doon Pioneer Village, K-W High School Board, Kitchener Citizen's Fire Prevention Committee, Waterloo Township Plowman's Association, Grand River Valley Conservation Commission, Kitchener Downtown Urban Renewal Development Committee, the Schneider Male Choir, and as a director of the Economical Mutual Insurance Co. He was a lifelong member of the Church of the Good Shepherd (Swedenborgian) and served for twenty-five years as Sunday school superintendent and member of the Board of Directors.

Schneider was an aviation enthusiast influencing the development of related amenities in the Region of Waterloo. He was involved in establishing the Kitchener-Waterloo Airport on Lexington Road in Waterloo in 1930 and assisted with the selection of the site of the Waterloo-Wellington Airport in Breslau, Ontario. He served on the airport commission from its founding in 1946 until 1971 and in 1973 the new terminal building was named in his honour. Schneider became an avid skier in his 40's and was a founding member of the Chicopee Ski Club. He also had an interest in motorcycles and automobiles resulting in the 1956 of a LeRoy car built in Kitchener in 1899, which he subsequently donated to Doon Pioneer Village. Finally, an active amateur photographer, he covered the Olympics in Berlin for The Record and in 1929 was the official movie photographer for Kitchener when the King and Queen visited the city.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University) in 1966 and a Centennial medal in 1967 on the occasion of Canada's 100th birthday.

Schneider died August 26, 1985 at his home in Kitchener and was buried at Woodland Cemetery.

The Schneider family were white settlers of what is now Kitchener, Ontario. Members of the family are the descendants of Johann Christoph Schneider, who was born in Germany, in Unteröwisheim, Baden, on August 27, 1831. His father, a farmer, was also Johann Christoph Schneider; his mother was Margarethe Elizabeth Zoller. He left Germany in 1847 when he was sixteen years old and settled in Berlin, Ontario, where a substantial German settlement already existed. He worked as a carpenter and later as a mechanic, and by 1858 was a building contractor. He married Anna Elizabeth Metz on April 26, 1857. They had seven children, of whom John Metz Schneider, founder of the meat packing firm later known as the Schneider Corp., was the first. Johann Christoph died in December 20, 1900. He, along with his descendants, played active roles in business, politics, and the cultural and social life of what is today the Region of Waterloo.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Record began with the publication of the Daily News of Berlin on February 9, 1878 and was the first daily paper in the area. It was published by Peter Moyer. Over the years it had several names and publishers: in January of 1897 it was purchased by the German Printing and Publishing Company and was amalgamated with that company's Berlin Daily Record to become the Berlin News Record, and later still the News Record, all published by William (Ben) V. Uttley. In 1918 the publishers of the German-language paper the Berliner Journal, William D. Euler (later Senator for North Waterloo) and William J. Motz, purchased the News Record and changed the name to the Kitchener Daily Record. On July 17, 1922 the Record absorbed the other daily, the Daily Telegraph. With that event, the original three daily papers (the News Record, the Berlin Daily Record, and the Daily Telegraph) became one.

The Berliner Journal began in December 29, 1859 by Frederick Rittinger and John Motz, and was located on Queen Street south, Kitchener. Motz remained editor until his death in 1899, at which time his son William acquired his father's interest. When Rittinger died in 1915 his share was acquired by William D. Euler. The weekly Journal ended on May 10, 1924. The Record’s first staff photographer was Harry Huehnergard, who worked for the paper for 49 years before retiring in 1986 as Manager of the Photographic Department.

In 1948 the Kitchener Daily Record was re-named the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, which name it retained until 1994, when it became simply The Record. In 1928 the paper moved from its home at 49 King Street west to a new building at 30 Queen Street north where it was to stay for 44 years until moving in May 1973 to 225 Fairway Road. When William J. Motz died in 1946 his son John E. Motz took over as publisher. The by-then Senator Euler sold his interest to Southam Press in 1953. John E. Motz died in 1975 and the Motz Family continued to own a controlling interest in the paper until 1990, when it was sold to Southam. In 1998, The Record was sold to Sun Media Corporation, and then in March 1999, to Torstar Corporation. In January 2005, the paper moved its offices to Market Square on King Street east in Kitchener's downtown core, and on March 11, 2008, the name was changed to the Waterloo Region Record.